West Australian explorer Legacy Iron Ore (ASX: LCY) is pleased to announce that it will commence exploration for gold at Mt Celia, a highly prospective area with a number of major gold mines north-east of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.
All tenements comprising the Mt Celia Project have now been granted and Legacy will start an initial drilling program early in 2010 that will focus on several prospective gold targets, following a review of all geochemical and geophysical data.
Past exploration at Mt Celia has focussed on the northern part of the tenement, around the Kangaroo Bore historic workings, resulting in a JORC inferred resource of 46,000 oz gold. The exploration at Mt Celia will be conducted some 4 km to the south, located immediately to the north of the Safari mine (0.5 Moz).
There are numerous gold drilling intersections outside this resource area warranting follow up drilling. In addition, substantial areas are masked by shallow sandy cover that has hindered prior exploration.
The Mt Celia Project lies within the Laverton Tectonic Zone – a major deformation zone that hosts a large number of gold mines, including Wallaby (8 Moz), Sunrise Dam (8 Moz), and Granny Smith (2.5 Moz).
The project area comprises some 35km², and encompasses several historic gold workings, including Kangaroo Bore and Blue Peter.
Mt Celia is part of a substantial package of tenements held by Legacy as part of the South Laverton Project. Drilling is currently in progress on the Stophanis Well tenements to the south of Mt Celia, surrounding the Patricia gold mine.
Legacy has a multi-pronged exploration strategy centred on a growing portfolio of quality tenements in the Kimberley, Pilbara, and Yilgarn regions of WA. The company has recently intensified its gold program to fast-track potentially viable mining operations and capitalise on buoyant commodity prices.